Millinery – silver & pink Bergère (aka Dinner-plate hat)

Silver and pink Bergère hat

Silver and pink Bergère hat

This project is a LONG time coming. I started this post back in 2011, and called it a “dinner-plate” hat, however now in 2022… I know it’s called a Bergère instead.

I started this project and in mid-November 2011, kind of abandoned it. I’m not entirely sure why – likely something else shiny caught my attention, and I lost interest in a historically-inspired hat where I didn’t have any other historical costume elements to wear it with…

In my late 2021 UFO (UnFinished prOjects) review, I pulled out this hat as a work-in-progress, and decided to finish it off. Continue reading

German headwear – Wulsthaube – Examples & planning

An impromptu white linen Wulsthaube just put together to photograph the Dockenbaret

An impromptu white linen Wulsthaube just put together to photograph the Dockenbaret

After going through my fabric stash and doing my capsule wardrobe record, I came up with not one, but four different collections of fabrics I really wanted to use for German Renaissance clothing.

One is for a Cranach gown, but the other three are for the Landsknecht style of costume which I really haven’t researched much at this point. I figured however that I’d start with appropriate headwear, and kind of go from there. I do love headwear… and I always seem to start with the headwear before I make the gown!

Partially this is also because of the July 2020 Historical Sew Monthly entry from Johanna – a Wulsthaube which made me want to make one too!

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16th Century German – Dockenbaret – HSM June 2021

My second attempt at a black wool Dockenbaret using a different pattern

My second attempt at a black wool Dockenbaret using a different pattern

As I was doing my analysis of my German wardrobe in my German Capsule Collection post, I recognized that one of the things I wanted to add to the wardrobe was a hat in a more historically-informed colour.

I have three hats for this period already – a blue-on-blue Tellerbarret, a teal tweed Dockenbaret with ostrich feathers, and a black wool Dockenbaret which I shared for my January Historical Sew Fortnightly entry.

While making that one, I found a different pattern approach I wanted to try… hence.. yet another hat!

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Teal Propoloma – The fan-shaped hat

New blog post! I made a heavily embellished teal and silver hat for my Byzantine costume wardrobe

New blog post! I made a heavily embellished teal and silver hat for my Byzantine costume wardrobe

Back in 2016 I made a Byzantine costume for an event/competition (where I won first place in the advanced category!) and part of that was a gorgeous, fun, huge fan-shaped hat called the Propoloma. My pattern was speculative, and I could see two different ways to accomplish the hat – but liked the idea of a very packable hat, especially considering how often SCA events are well out of town and require costumes that will pack up into a suitcase or duffle bag easily.

The first hat was golden, which worked well with that first costume I made (blue, with red and gold accessories) and it also worked really well with the second Byzantine costume I made too (green with gold)…

…. but then I was gifted this amazing teal top embellished with silver beads, sequins, and French wire… and the ONLY thing I could see in my mind’s eye for this was elements for another Byzantine accessory.

Continue reading